Thirst for stardom could doom you to a rock star's ride on the storm

THE Who's Pete Townshend famously sang ''Hope I die before I get old''. He didn't, but fellow band member Keith Moon did.

''What a drag it is getting old,'' drawled Mick Jagger, but it was Brian Jones who died young.

Jim Morrison sang of The End being his only friend - and he did meet a premature end in a Paris bathtub.

What marks out the pop stars who die prematurely from the ones who do not?

A study published in the British Medical Journal provides some answers. It proves for the first time that it is not fame that makes one prone to emotional problems, it is mostly childhood maltreatment and adversity.

Other studies had already proven that rock and pop stars died prematurely compared with the general population. This study examined a sample of 1489 since the 1950s, with a minimum of five years of fame; 137 - almost 1 in 10 - died prematurely.

Alcohol and drug abuse was the most common cause of death, claiming 53 musicians. Cancer took 25 lives, heart disease 21 and violence seven.

American performers were more likely to die than their European counterparts, and solo acts were twice as likely to die prematurely as people in bands. Non-whites were also at greater risk. But the crucial finding was that adverse childhood experiences - experiences such as parental divorce or emotional neglect or abuse - were the main cause of premature death, and a key factor is that they increase substance abuse.

Twice as many of the stars who died from substance abuse had at least one such experience compared with those who died of other causes. Of those who died from substance abuse, 80 per cent had two or more.

This is exactly what general population studies would predict. Having four or more adverse experiences makes you seven times more liable to abuse alcohol and 12 times more likely to attempt suicide. Adverse experiences have also been shown to be a major cause of personality disorders such as narcissism - common among fame-seekers and the famous.

These experiences probably also explain why middle aged stars often die prematurely. Childhood adversity is a major cause of other diseases such as cancer and heart disease, partly also due to substance abuse.

We already know that people who place too high a value on money and fame are more at risk of the commonest mental illnesses. The study provides further scientific reasons to consider our new obsession with fame as a major public health issue. Its authors conclude that ''pursuing a career as a rock or pop musician may itself be a risky strategy and one attractive to those escaping from abusive, dysfunctional or deprived childhoods''.

We have created a society in which far too many people suffer such childhoods. Growing numbers of children aspire to pop stardom; those who do so, and who engage in celebrity worship, are more likely to have had high numbers of adverse experiences. The case for meeting of the needs of children gets ever more persuasive.